0- The History of Drama through ages.ppt

A brief history of drama

1. Chapter 7
The History of Drama
This is closely related to the history of humanity!
Anytime a story teller gets involved in the story and acts out
what happened, it is drama.

2. Western Drama
•6th century BCE – was worship of the Greek god Dionysus
–Dionysus – God of wine (pleasure god)
–Had two sides to him good and bad (comedy and tragedy)
Greek Drama
•Chorus – group of chanters – danced around an altar
to commemorate his death
•Song they sang was called the goat-song or tragos
(the Greek word for tragedy)

3. •These performances evolved into dramatic
contests
–Lasted 5-6 days.
–Last three days four plays were performed
•3 tragedies (trilogy) and a comedy (satyr)
–Thespis (the first actor) won the first competition by
stepping out from the chorus and engaging in
dialogue
–Thespian – the name given to actors ever since

4. Greek Theatre
•Held in the open on hillsides surrounding a
circular area called the orchestra
•Wooden seats were added, then stone
•Some theaters seated more than 17,000
people!!

5. The Role of the Chorus
•Explain the situation
•Bring the audience up-to-date
•Make a commentary on the action
•Engage in dialogue with the actors
Eventually role diminished as actors’ roles expanded.
The chorus is still used to increase realism of scenes
and to engage in scenes with the main characters.

6. Authors of Greek Drama
•Aeschylus
oExpanded number of actors, reduced the
size of the chorus
oOnly surviving trilogy – the Oresteia
•Sophocles
•Ranked with Shakespeare as one of the best
playwrights of all time.
•Refined plot structure to create unified works
•Author of Oedipus and Antigone

7. •Euripides
oEmphasized human relationships
oMaster of pathos – human sorrow and compassion
oAuthor of The Trojan Women and Medea
•Aristophanes
oAuthor of Greek comedy
oConsidered nothing sacred
oSkilled satirist and observer of humanity
oAuthor of The Frogs, The Clouds, and Lysistrata

8. Roman Drama
•Most were just copies of Greek Drama
•Andronicus – first “Roman” playwright, an
author from a Greek colony
–First Roman tragedy was a translation from a
Greek play
•Roman Theater
–Amphitheaters – large circular
arenas surrounded by tiers of
seats.

9. Medieval Drama
•Battle between Christian religions (Catholicism mostly) and Pagan religions.
Trying to “reform” the world. Any play that was not approved by the church
was considered blasphemous.
•Liturgical drama – question-answer song
performed by monks on Easter
•Saint plays – based on legends of saints
•Mystery plays – based on biblical history
•Passion plays – address the last week of
Christ’s life
•Morality plays – taught the difference between
right and wrong (context of devil and God
battling for souls).

10. •Performed on platforms called mansions.
–Three mansions represented Heaven, Hell
and the Sea of Galilee
•Medieval craft guilds took over the
presentation of drama
–Pageant wagons – stages on wheels
–Divided into two levels (upper = stage, lower =
dressing area)

11. •Folk Drama – secular drama (non-
religious)
Discouraged by the church
Took place around planting and harvest time
and presented outdoors
Most pagan religions gave thanks to an earth
goddess, hence celebration around planting and
harvest.
Example: Robin Hood

12. The Renaissance
Italy
•Weak imitations of classical plays
•Opera – an attempt to revive Greek
Drama
•Commedia Dell’arte – “comedy of the
profession”
–Professional improvised comedy
–Plot outlines posted before performance
–No scripts
–Stock characters which represented two
classes

13. Harlequin (Arlecchino in Italian) is the most popular of the zanni or
comic servant characters from the Italian Commedia dell'Arte.

14. Pantalone (French: Pantaloon) is a stock character that is
classified as one of the vecchi (old men) in Commedia
dell'arte. He is a miserly and often lustful character who is
portrayed as a Venetian and often speaks in the Venetian
dialect.

15. The Renaissance
England
•Climax came during the Elizabethan Age
–Queen Elizabeth supported the arts more
than any other ruler of the time
–Threats of closing the theatre due to the
plague were often stopped because of her
–Financially assisted some troupes and
theaters

16. Dramatists
•Christopher Marlowe
–Introduced important use of blank verse
–Shakespeare’s main competition
–Author of Doctor Faustus (story of a man
who sells his soul)
•Ben Johnson
–Master of English comedy
–Author of Volpone, The Alchemist and
Every Man in His Humour

17. •William Shakespeare
–The greatest dramatist of all time!!
–The characters form the center of interest in
Shakespeare’s plays
–Iambic pentameter/blank verse
–Author of Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer
Night’s Dream and 35 others!
–Also wrote 154 sonnets!!

18. The Elizabethan Playhouse
•The Globe and The Rose two most famous
•Platform (thrust) stage with courtyard around on
three sides
•Three tiers of seating – the higher the tier the
more expensive the seat (opposite of today’s
theatre)
•Open air – if it rained, the groundlings got wet

19. Restoration Drama
•English Royal Patent of 1662 – women
appeared as players for the first time
•Raked stages – sloped upward so
audience could see the performance

20. Eighteenth Century
•Clever comic operas
–Gilbert and Sullivan – The Mikado, H.M.S.
Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance
•Oscar Wilde – The Importance of Being
Earnest
•Bernard Shaw – Ranked with
Shakespeare
–Candida, Pygmalion

21. Other Drama
•Goethe – Germany in 1770s to early
1800s – Faust
•Edmond Rostand – France – Cyrano de
Bergerac
•Samuel Becket – France – Waiting for
Godot
•Chekov – Russia – greatest Russian
Dramatist

22. Drama in Asia
•Dates to 200 AD
•Rituals that combined song, dance, gestures
and costumes
•Peking Opera
Developed in the nineteenth century (still performed today)
Five main types of drama in China
•Historical drama
•Spoken drama
•Song drama
•Dance drama
•Ballet
China

23. Japan
•Three forms of drama – No, Bunraku and
Kabuki
No
•Suitable for the Japanese nobility
•Fourteenth century
•Used classical Japanese literature
•Combines words, dance and music

24. Bunraku
•“Doll theater”
•Combination of puppets, chanting and music
•Four-foot tall marionettes
•Three puppeteers dressed in black hold the puppet
close to their bodies as they move around the
stage.
Avenue Q, a current Broadway
musical, is an Americanized form of
Bunraku.

25. •Kabuki
Seventeenth century
Meant for the general population
Only male performers
Combines aspects of many Japanese drama
styles
The Kabukiza in Ginza is one of Tokyo's
leading kabuki theaters
Kabuki founder Izumo no Okuni,
wearing a Katana and a Christian
cross.

26. Drama in the United States
•The first professional company to produce in the
colonies
•Managed by David Douglass
•The Prince of Parthia – performed April 24, 1767 in
Philadelphia
•American theater eventually became more innovative
and experimental
•Privacy of a darkened theatre helped to hide feelings
•Topics often controversial in society are easily covered
in theatre
The American Company

27. American Actors
•English professional troupes presented
popular London plays
•Barrymores link early American stage with
the modern (Drew Barrymore)

28. American Playwrights
•Eugene O’Neill
Issues range from interpersonal relationships to faith
Long Day’s Journey into Night
•Clifford Odets
Social Protest in 1930s
Waiting for Lefty
•Arthur Miller
Moral and political tragedies
The Crucible and Death of a Salesman
•Thorton Wilder
Life in a small town
Our Town